Careful or Anal-Retentive?
Which Cup of Chi do YOU drink from?
I see lots of interesting things happening in the spiritual community. And I run into some pretty strange things within the Feng Shui world especially.
So often I'm asked the questions, "Is this bad feng shui?", "Is it ok to put this here?", "Did I do this right?"... Fear. Fear. And a little more fear on top of that.
There is a huge difference between being aware, and being fearful; in being careful (full of care) and being anal retentive; meticulous vs. obsessive-compulsive; clean vs. germaphobe. I think you get my drift.
One way you know you might be off-balance is if you feel stress, discomfort, frustration, contraction or physical tightness when you're doing something. When you feel these sensations, you may be falling into the "fearful" category. If you feel aware, present and balanced, then you're most likely on the right track.
And keep in mind, two people could do the exact same behavior, yet one is coming from a place of peace and the other from a place of contraction. One person could be meticulously Zen about the tender love and care they give their kitchen cleaning, while another does the same exact behavior, stemming instead from nervousness and control.
We're all aiming for balance on some level in our life. If we become too rigid in one area, we become brittle. And we all know what happens to brittle things when they get hit with the unexpected! The results ain't pretty. To be peaceful is to be flexible. When we can bend with life, we're free. When we can flow like a stream, around the curves and with the tide, we feel relaxed, calm and loving. When we contract and try swimming against the flow, life become hard. And it's not a whole heck of a lot of fun.
Name an area where you're contracted and rigid... Write it down (and trust me, you're in good company: 99.9% of the population of the globe is completely anal about something).
It could anything that creates stress, such as:
• Fear of germs or disease
• Anxiety around making a mistake in Feng Shui
• Nervous around breaking any sort of daily or regular ritual
• Being overly meticulous about cleaning
• Terror about doing something wrong
• Being a perfectionist from fear of rejection
• Needing to look a certain way
• Avoiding relationships or friends in order to prevent your behavior-feather's from getting ruffled
When you've come clean on your own anal-retentive qualities, write down one small thing you could do this week that would be a stretch for you. How could you find more flexibility and peace around this topic?
Now comes the really fun part: TAKE ACTION.
Talk's just talk. Theory's just theory. Get out of your head (the thing that got you into this mess in the first place) and into your body, into the "now". Move, risk and contort those habits of yours like a bendy little Yoga master. Jump headfirst into the stream and let the current take you. There's no need to fight. There's nothing to push against. Everything is on your side. Trust, trust, trust....
©2007 Stephanie McWilliams
